Trying to Untangle Anarchist Attacks On Scientists

bricko writes with an analysis at New Scientist of recent violence by self-described anarchists against scientists or scientific establishments, including the non-fatal shooting in Genoa in May of the head of a nuclear energy company. That attack "was the latest in a series of alleged anarchist attacks on scientists and engineers, including the attempted bombing of nanotechnology labs in Switzerland and Mexico. This wave of politically motivated violence has raised the question: why do anarchists hate science? Beyond the unsubtle threat of brute force, there are deeper issues that merit attention." The "hate science" line is just a line; the author is under no illusion that there is a single conspiracy, or that all who claim the "anarchist" mantle have identical (or even similar) views of science. "Despite the recent attacks and propaganda, anarchists actually have a complex relationship with science and technology. Some leading figures from anarchist history were scientists, notably Russian biologist Peter Kropotkin. Many hacktivists are anarchists who embrace technology; fiction authors sometimes look toward a future 'technotopia' based on anarchist ideals."

Comments

Just a label.

[MrQuacker]

"Anarchist" is just a catch all label for a whole range of people. Lets not forget all the Christians, Jews, and Muslims that don't agree with some kind of tech/science and protest/legislate against it.

Stockholm Syndrome:

[Hartree]

TFA talks about establishing: "anarchist science" to make science conform more to what the anarchists can identify with.

This sounds like having the scientific community embrace "creation science" in order to conform more to what the creationists can identify with.